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An elite Melbourne private school and a travel company have been charged over the death of a student who fell ill during a school trip and tragically died.
Kilvington High School student Lachlan Cook, 16, suffered diabetes complications during a trip to Vietnam in September 2019 and subsequently died in a Melbourne hospital.
A coroner found his death could have been prevented in December 2023.
WorkSafe said on Wednesday it had charged the school and the travel company, World Challenge Expeditions Pty Ltd, over Lachlan’s death.
An elite Melbourne private school and a travel company have been charged over the death of student Lachlan Cook (pictured), who fell ill during a school trip.
A court previously heard Lachlan had been self-managing his type 1 diabetes when he fell ill and was taken to hospital 24 hours after first showing symptoms including vomiting and difficulty speaking.
He suffered a heart attack and was flown back to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, where he was taken off life support in October 2019.
World Travel Expeditions has been charged with three counts of failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The regulator alleges that the company failed, to the extent reasonably practicable, to reduce the risk of illness or death to participating students, including those with diabetes.
The school also faces a charge of failing to ensure that people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, WorkSafe said.
In a statement, the regulator said: “WorkSafe alleges that the school failed, to the extent reasonably practicable, to reduce the risk of illness or death to diabetic students on school trips.”
‘World Challenge Expeditions Pty Ltd faces three OHS Act charges for failing to ensure that people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.
‘WorkSafe alleges that the travel company failed, to the extent reasonably practicable, to reduce the risk of illness or death to participating students, including those with diabetes.’
In December, coroner Audrey Jamieson found that the school and travel company’s alleged failures led to Lachlan’s tragic and avoidable death.
The two Kilvington teachers who traveled, along with the World Challenge team leader, were not trained to help students with diabetes.
They also did not have access to Lachlan’s diabetes management and action plans.
Instead, the 16-year-old was expected to monitor his own blood glucose levels and manage his symptoms, even as he felt increasingly ill.
Fees at Kilvington (pictured) range up to $29,228 a year for Australian students and $40,640 for overseas students.
“We can only hope that other schools and camp providers learn from our experience,” Lachlan’s mother, Kirsten McMahon, told reporters outside court.
The family’s lawyer, Andrew Woods, said the claim that Lachlan was able to self-manage his diabetes was “shockingly negligent”.
“Kilvington came dangerously close to blaming Lachlan and his family instead of blaming his own mistakes,” Woods said.
“Lachlan was a child and in the care of adults.”
The case is scheduled for hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on April 30.
Fees at Kilvington range up to $29,228 a year for Australian students and $40,640 for overseas students.